“The Opener”

Camp Cope’s 2016 debut album was a scorched-earth, feminist punk manifesto. On songs like “Jet Fuel Can't Melt Steel Beams,” lead singer Georgia Maq threw down the gauntlet, her caustic howl taking to task every misogynist in the southern hemisphere. “The Opener,” the first single from the Melbourne band’s forthcoming, as-yet-untitled follow-up, is searing even by those standards.

Over assertive guitar and drums, Maq reels off a litany of lies fed to her by a partner and critiques every male music industry figure who ever told her didn’t belong. “It’s another man telling us we can’t fill up the room/It’s another man telling us to book a smaller venue,” rages Maq. There’s no hook in “The Opener,” but it’ll get stuck in your head anyway; drummer Sarah Thompson and bassist Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich provide a bullish backing, driving home the song’s lyrics. Maq has never sounded more powerful as she screams the band’s rallying cry: “See how far we’ve come not listening to you.” It’s the kind of conviction that takes a band from opener to headliner.